We’re told from the jump on RAYE’s My 21st Century Blues that it’ll be a cinematic ride: Strap in and get comfortable, because the curtain is about to lift. One of the hottest pop/R&B songwriters in recent years, RAYE has a proven ability to drive a narrative train—“My pen’s a gun,” she declares early on—so it’s no surprise that she makes this debut album into a sleek vehicle to depict her path towards freedom on personal, romantic, and artistic grounds. The heart of the story is about a woman contending for control in the face of abuse—of drugs, of industry power, of the body, of the societal fabric—rearing its many vicious heads. Speeding through R&B, dancehall, house, blues, indie electronica, and soul, RAYE pilots a record that’s emblematic of modern times while maintaining a timeless finish.
—Max Zhang